The History of the Camp Meeting

Rev. Dr. Douglas Strong will lead two lectures on “The History of the Camp Meeting” at Orchestra Hall at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, June 29 and Friday, June 30.

Rev. Dr. Douglas Strong serves the Paul T. Walls Professor of History of Christianity at Seattle Pacific University, teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses in the School of Theology. Prior to being the Walls Professor, Strong was the founding Dean of Seattle Pacific Seminary. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Houghton College, then earned his master’s of divinity and doctorate degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary.

Strong’s field of study is American religious history, particularly the history of 19th-century revivalism, social reform and the Wesleyan/Holiness Movement in America. He has been a Past President of the Wesleyan Theological Society, a co-convener of the History of Methodism Working Group of the Oxford Institute of Methodist Theological Studies, and on the Steering Committee of the Wesleyan Studies Group of the American Academy of Religion. He has conducted several Wesley Heritage Study Tours to England.

Strong has been the Director of the Dialogue on Race & Faith, a grant-funded project to study and apply lessons learned from 19th-century abolitionism to racial justice advocacy today.

He taught multiple times at the Moscow Theological Seminary of the Russian Methodist Church, including at its satellite locations in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, and currently serves on the school’s Board of Trustees. Strong taught at two theological schools in Korea. He is committed to intercultural learning as essential for students preparing to live out their Christian vocation in a global society.

Strong is an ordained clergyman in The United Methodist Church and served for eight years as a Pastor in East Brunswick, New Jersey. He is especially interested in reviving the Wesleyan practice of small-group accountable discipleship among today’s Christians.

BOOKS

Rediscovering an Evangelical Heritage: A Tradition and Trajectory of Integrating Piety and Justice, with Donald Dayton (2nd Edition) Mt. Baker Publishing, 2014

Reclaiming Our Wesleyan Tradition: John Wesley’s Sermons for Today Discipleship Resources, 2007

Perfectionist Politics: Abolitionism and the Religious Tensions of American Democracy Syracuse University Press, 1999